Getting A Feel For Clicker Services Needed.

[DoubleC]

I am getting a clicker next month and would like to offer services to other people as long as I don't get 20,000 LOL. I figured it took me 4 years to buy one and maybe some people just have one item they want clicked, like a bracelet. How it would work is like this I think. You would send me your die, tell me what kind of leather you wanted used and pay for me to order that, then from what I've seen so far is the service fee would be $1.00 per minute. If I click you out 4 bracelets in that minute then it would be 25 cents per bracelet plus the price of the leather. Now no matter clicker or not you need leather in this business. So you could get your bracelets in your favorite leather with the only difference being you wouldn't have to cut them. The initial outlay of money would be the die but at this price per product I don't see it taking long to recoup your money in time saved. I could also send the left over leather to you with your shipping price.

So again would you rather have someone hassle with it or do it yourself? Thanks, because I'm fairly certain I will be offering this service starting next month. Cheryl

[cgleathercraft]

For me It wouldn't make much sense to have clicker dies on hand that I can't use on my own. That said, if I run onto some at an auction I probably wouldn't pass them up if they went for a decent price.

Personally I'd be looking for a bulk pack of already clicked items (bracelets, keyfobs, other small items) that all I would need to do is tool, dye, finish, and assemble. Bulk pack quantities starting at 5 and going up to 100 would be good as they would service both small batches and large runs. And they could still be clicked out on an as needed basis. This does mean you would need a certain amount of overhead in leather. That by itself is another large hurdle with all different weights / types. Custom orders could be still be done this way with whatever leather a person wants.

I can see where someone would want to send their own die to you to get clicked. Just wouldn't work for my needs right now.

Best of luck! I'm interested to see what you come up with!

[DoubleC]

Hi CG. I will have my own dies of things like key fobs, bracelets, that sort of thing. I'm still going to be leatherworking too. It's just if someone wants a headstall clicked shaped like a sequoia tree, probably not going to have that on hand. I'm just feeling my way along here. I think a lot of people get annoyed at doing the small money makers over and over by hand. I know I do, There's only so may ways you can make a key fob and doing it over and over is boring when you're trying to take advantage of your time and cut several at a time. I'm hoping I can make this work but if not I still want a clicker for myself. Cheryl

[Halitech]

Only problem I see for me anyway, is the cost of shipping you the die and leather then paying to have it shipped back plus the time for shipping. Not saying that if you had a selection of dies available and I could buy the leather and have it shipped to you then just pay for shipping back to me that I wouldn't take advantage of it

[biglew]

if i lived closer I would use your service... but the cost of shipping would defeat the purpose.

I have a small tippman clicker... but need bigger. Eventually i hope to be able to get a nice swing arm press (might take years to save up for one) .....Its a shame I can't use the die presses at work for personal items... we have 8 including a couple really big ones

good luck... I will follow the thread to see your progress

Thanks

Lew

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

The reason I bought my clicker is so I wouldn't have to pay someone else to cut my parts. If someone has their own dies, chances are they're going to have a clicker of some sort as well. A big advantage of having a clicker and dies is to use up scrap on small items. Freight would eat the profits if someone had to send you their scrap, pay you $60 an hour to click, and then pay freight back. You may get some local business from hobby people that don't want to or can't make the investment of a clicker and dies, but I'd think pretty much anyone that would be producing in quantities that would justify a die would own their own clicker. Not saying it couldn't work for you, I just wouldn't count on it paying for your clicker very quickly. Google about any die-cut blanks you can think of, and there are thousands of folks like yourself hoping to make their clicker pay for itself. I think what you will run into more often is someone wanting you to pay to have a die made from their pattern, click a few pieces for them, and then "see ya!" If I sound cynical, it may be because I've been there and done that! But good luck to you!

[DoubleC]

well big sioux i know how some people can be so I understand. I think it will pay for itself in the time I save but whether I can make money on it remains to be seen. But anyone that buys a die has to pay postage to have it shipped to them, so that's not an additional cost. It just ships to me instead. I would keep the die for them until they needed more clicked items if they wanted me too. I think people are making this sound more difficult than it is. Cheryl

[JLSleather]

If someone has their own dies, chances are they're going to have a clicker of some sort as well. .. I'd think pretty much anyone that would be producing in quantities that would justify a die would own their own clicker. ... thousands of folks like yourself hoping to make their clicker pay for itself....

That sounds right. Must be the water in our neck o the woods

[ConradPark]

Double C, if your idea works for you, all the best. However around where I live (London), the studios that have clicker presses earn some extra money in the way that they rent them out hourly to whomever wants to drop by with their own leather and dies. Standard rate everywhere here is £10 an hour (clicking out wallets from five average hides doesn't even take 15min).

Also, would you send your dies to someone else to keep? Anyway, as I said, if it works for you, all the best. Good Luck.

[leatherwytch]

Things that must be considered.

1. Who is your competition

2. Price

3. Advertising

4 wear and tear on the machine

5 Do you or do they own the dies

6. Are you making them pay for the dies and how much.

7 shipping costs.

8. If you are clicking for them is your time included in the amount.

I would buy a clicker if I had the room, it would make all the repetitive stuff easier. I would then advertise the service. This however is a large city with many smaller cities within reach, where others may want said services.

Would I use such a service? I most certainly would if it was available for a decent price and timeline.